Easel.



Patented ma 27, I902 E. u. STOLZ.

EASEL.

(Application filaq. Sept. 28, 1901.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES 7 /,v VEN r00,

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UNiTED STATES ATEN T GFFEE.

ERNEST I-I. STOIZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

E'A S E L.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 700,849, dated May 27, 1902 Application filed September 518, 1901. Serial No. 76,939. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST'H. STOLZ, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Easels, of which the following is a specification.

The main object of my invention is to provide an improved form of folding easel which is simple in structure, inexpensive, of suitable form to be manufactured entirely of pasteboard, and which can be readily folded flat to facilitate the storing or packing of same. I accomplish this object by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of the back of an ea'sel constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation of same with the back rest and brace folded against the back of the front piece. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the front of the easel.

In the device shown the front piece of the easel is a rectangular card 1. The card 1 is supported on the edge 2 by means of a back piece or back rest 3, which is held at right angles to the front piece 1 by means of a bifurcated brace 4. The back piece 3 is made of cardboard, being scored on the reverse side and bent along the line 5, thus dividing itinto a movable part and a fixed part 6, which is secured to the front piece 1 with the crease 5 substantially at right angles to the base 2 of said front piece. with a slot 7 in its middle part, said slot beingof slightly greater width than the thickness of the movable part of the back rest 3. The brace 4 is also scored or creased along the line 8 at right angles to the slot 7. The brace 4 is placed with its slot 7 straddling the movable part of the back piece 3 and has its fixed part 9 secured to the front piece 1. The creases 5 and 8 are substantially at right angles to each other, as shown in Fig. 2. The brace 4 is preferably placed in such position that the end 10 of the slot 7 will freely clear the corner 11 of the, back rest 3, and will not pass the corner 12. The supports 13 consist of pieces of cardboard each divided into two parts by a crease 14. The part 15 of each support 13 is secured to the front piece 1 with the crease 14 vertically disposed.

The

The brace 4 is provided,

movable parts of the supports 13 are adapted to be swung outwardly, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 3, or to be folded flat against the front surface of the front piece 1, as indicated by the dotted lines.

To operate my device, the back piece 3 is swung outwardly from the front piecel and the brace 4 is moved outwardly or downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1. The device may now be stood so as to rest on base 2 of the front piece and the corner 12 of the back piece. NVhile the movable part of the brace4is bent outwardly from the front piece, the back rest 3 will be firmly held in position by the sides of the slot 7, and the easel will be thus securely supported. If the supports 13 are now bent outwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, the device maybe used for supporting pictures or similar articles.

'When the device is not in use, the movable part of the brace 4 may be folded against the back surface of the front piece 1. The movable part of the back rest 3 will then fall into the position shown in Fig. 2. By also moving the movable parts of the supports 13 until they come in contact with the face of the front piece 1 the device will assume a compact form suitable for storing or packing and shipping the same.

It will be seen that the supports 13 may be omitted, as in case a picture or advertising matter is printed directly on the front piece 1. It is also plain that other details of the device shown may be altered without departing from the spirit of my invention. I therefore do not confine myself to such details except as hereinafter limited in the claims.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An easel comprising a front piece, aback piece hinged to said front piece and foldable against same, and a bifurcated brace straddling said back piece, hinged to said front piece at each side of said back piece and on an axis transverse to the axis of said back piece, said brace being foldable against the front piece, and adapted when turned on its axis to a position away from said front piece to hold said back piece in a plane disposed transversely to the plane of the front piece.

2. An easel comprising a front piece; a card having a crease or score therein, having its part on one side of the crease secured to the back of the front piece, and having its other part extending free therefrom and adapted to be turned on said crease either outwardly from, or against, said frontpiece; and a second card having a slot therein adapted to receive the free part of said first card, having a score or crease therein extending transversely to said slot, having its part on one side of said crease secured to the back of said front piece at each side of the free part of said first card, and having its other part extendingfree from said front piece and adapted when moved outwardly from the front piece to hold the free part of said first card in said slot and brace same outwardly from said front piece. 4

3. An easel comprising a front piece, a back to said front piece at each side of said back rest and in such position that when the brace is folded against the front piece its slot will lie along the hinged edge of said back rest andperinit same to be foldedv against said front piece.

Signed at Chicago this 25th'day of September, 1901.

ERNEST H. STOLZ. Witnesses: v

WM. R. RUMMLER, C. J. GRADY. 

